


the secrets to falling in love

by Bubonic_Buccaneer



Category: Haikyuu!!, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Naruto
Genre: Gen, I've decided fuck timelines and also everyone is about late teen age, Listen I wanna smooch my favorite characters and by god I will, Multi, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Tumblr Prompt, no one can stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 00:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18906010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubonic_Buccaneer/pseuds/Bubonic_Buccaneer
Summary: "Hello, my name is Laurel. It's nice to meet you!"A self-insert fic based on prompts from imagine-your-fav-character.tumblr.com.alt title: the secrets of being a mary sue





	1. plant names are the new black (alex fierro)

**Author's Note:**

> listen, y'all i decided fuck it and i snapped and now i just wanna write cute things about my obvious self insert and ppl i like,,
> 
> i have done one of these before but i thought it was trash when i reread it so i redid it and now i hope two years later that its better ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Imagine your favorite character being transferred to your school, and you have to show them around.**

* * *

 

            Laurel was sitting in her  first period class, looking over her work and lightly dozing off. She didn’t want to deal with AP Stats today. Sure it was easy, but it was boring. Time seemed to tick by at half the speed it would normally as she stared at the clock. As she was about to just give up and lay her head on the table, the phone in the classroom rang loudly before the teacher, Mr. Hunt answered it.

            Mr. Hunt was a good teacher, knowing when to be serious and when to let people goof off. However, he did demand some effort being put into their work. When he got up to answer the phone, everyone paused for a second to look over before returning to their work. Logarithms weren’t going to solve themselves. As Mr. Hunt ended the call and said goodbye though, the attention returned to him. He put the phone back on the receiver and turned around, sighing in amusement as he say twelve pairs of eyes on him.

            “I see y’all have been working dutifully on the problems assigned to you. Anyways, Laurel, you’re needed at the office and take your bag with you. Mr. Gore needs you for something,” he said as he sat back down. The class ‘ooh’d’ at her as she shoved her binder in her bag and left the classroom. Laurel wasn’t that worried. She hadn’t done anything bad recently and the administrators didn’t care what she did since they liked her. The only thing that could probably get her in trouble would be attendance issues and that was easy to fix. Whatever was facing her, she was about to face since she was pretty much already at the desk. Time to face the music.

            The music was Mr. Gore and another teenager stuck in polite conversation with the attendance ladies. Alex let out a little whistle and waved at the pair as she walked up.

            “Thanks for coming down so quickly, my apologies if I interrupted a quiz. We have a  new student and we thought that you would be a good choice to show them around the school since their schedule is similar to yours. I need to go and handle a situation on G hall. Here, let me sign your pass real quick,” Mr. Gore grabbed the offered slip of paper and signed it before jogging off, answering his walkie talkie as he left. Laurel looked after him for a second before turning around and looking at the other person.

            She looked at him and they were… bright, to say the least. Dressed in all pink and green with green hair and what looked like heterochromic eyes. They were shifting side to side and looking nervous. Understandable since the reception area of the school has weird life sized stickers of students on the walls and they would make greater people cower.

            “Hello, my name is Laurel and it’s nice to meet you! My pronouns are she/her and welcome to Live Oak High,” Laurel said, and spread her arms out dramatically, only cringing a little inside. She had never been the best at introductions and it showed. To her chagrin, the kid started to laugh at her. Great. Absolutely perfect. Laurel looked up at the ceiling and just slowly died inside as she waited for him to stop.

            After a little bit the kid stopped laughing and mimed wiping away a tear. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t laughing at you, well at least not in a mean way. Was it intentional that you’re named after a tree and are going to the one high school in the area that’s also tree themed,” he asked and Alex stopped for a second and then just laughed. “But, hello. My name is Alex, he/him pronouns right now,” Alex said and threw a peace sign up.

            “At least someone here isn’t named after flora,” Laurel said, giggling before starting to walk off, Alex following. “Anyways, you just saw the reception area and the attendance desk, but let’s start showing you the hallways and libraries and whatever.”

            “Y’know, Magnus thought that something weird would happen today, but I bet against it. I should have just agreed. I owe him five dollars now, damn it,” Alex said, scowling towards the end of his statement.

            “Don’t tease the universe, it likes to fuck you over,” Laurel joked as they wandered the halls. After a while of just chatting and getting to know each other, Laurel asked something that had been on her mind.

            “So, why did you transfer? I mean, it’s still early in the year and you should be able to get all of your credits in time, but… You know what, I probably shouldn’t have pried,” Laurel said, laughing self consciously.

            “No, it’s alright to be curious. I just moved in with my cousin and her family. Her name is Samirah, you might know her from around school actually. That lead to a new school district and here I am today. I’m actually surprised that she wasn’t the one that showed me around,” Alex mused and Laurel agreed with her. The two shrugged it off and kept walking around the school.

☆ ☆ ☆

            After school and they had finished the tour, the two met outside of the front of the school to wait for their cars to come pick them up. Well, Alex was waiting, Laurel just wanted to keep him company and see his cousin and friends. Laurel steered him away from her normal group - they were a bit intense for a first impression of the school’s population- and just kept talking to Alex and asking him about himself and answering questions in kind.

            Time passed and eventually, Alex and Laurel were the only two waiting outside.

            “Where’s your ride? I would think that they would come and get you early, because, y’know, new school, kind of overwhelming,” Laurel said, side eyeing the entrance of the school’s driveway. Alex shook his head.

            “Nah, I told them to come late. Samirah has something she had to do after school, so she’ll be late anyways. Why isn’t your ride here,” Alex asked in turn.

            “Oh, I actually drive myself. I just wanted to keep you company on your first day. It’s no big deal.” Laurel was about to say something when she saw a big black van pull into the drive. She nudged Alex and pointed to it causing Alex to pick up their stuff.

            “That one would be me. It was great meeting you, talk to you again tomorrow?”

            Laurel smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that would be great. I showed you where I sit in the morning to wait, see you there!” By the time that she had finished talking, the van had pulled in from of them and the side door was  flung open, revealing a large assortment of people inside, including a blond boy that Laurel would bet was Magnus. Laurel saw a girl make her way out from the school behind them, carrying a load of books. The girl, presumably Alex’s cousin Samirah, passed by them with a small nod before climbing in the van over Magnus to the middle. Alex followed her and he waved goodbye before they left.

            Laurel smiled and began walking to her car. Today was pretty nice actually.


	2. honey and not vinegar (shino aburame)

**Imagine your favorite character standing up for you when someone picks on you. / Imagine your favorite character joining you at your lunch table when you were sitting alone.**

* * *

 

            Laurel quickly got up from her seat as she left the classroom. It’s not that AP Gov was herd or the teacher, Mr. Dobbs, was bad, it’s just that it’s now first lunch and if she doesn’t haul ass then she would have no time to get in line, get food, and eat. Ah, high school.

            She entered the hallway and quickly weaved her way through the crowd of students that was growing by the second, giving nasty looks to the people that were loud or slow. Eventually, she got to the staircase and hurried down to the cafeteria, throwing her bag onto a seat to claim it and getting in line. The next ten minutes were spent waiting for the line to move, getting her food, and paying for it before walking back across the cafeteria, waving to some of her friends along the way.

            Sitting down at the empty end of a table everyday cut something inside of her, but Alex was used to it. Sometimes friends just don’t want to associate with you anymore and you just have to suck it up and act like nothing happened. In a stroke of bad luck, her new friend Alex didn’t have the same lunch as her.

            Laurel was just moving around her stuff and getting everything put in the right places when she felt a presence in front of her. She looked up and saw another one of the new kids standing in front of her. It was the new kid that everyone said was kind of creepy, but Laurel didn’t like to judge people on word of mouth rumors. She thought it was rude as hell. Sure he wore a lot of layers and you can’t really see his face, but that didn’t mean that he was terrible or something. She personally knew worse people who looked more mainstream.

            Taking a deep breath, introductions were terrible, she introduced herself.

            “Hello, my name is Laurel, and I use she/her pronouns. You? And not to sound rude, but why are you over here,” she asked, her voice getting softer towards the end, the atmosphere getting more and more awkward as she went on. The kid just kept looking at her for a second more before nodding.

            “My name is Shino Aburame and I use he/him pronouns. Why am I standing in front of you? Because I would like to sit down and eat. Why did I choose this table in particular? Because it has empty spots and you seem pleasant to be around,” he answered. Laurel, taken aback a little by his matter of fact speaking, just nodded and told him that it was fine and to pick any seat that he wanted.

            The two sat in silence eating quietly, Laurel with her school lunch and Shino with a packed lunch. The silence, well as silent as a lunch table can be, was quickly grating on Laurel’s nerves so she decided to break it and start a conversation.

            “So, Shino, why did you transfer here? There’s been a strangely large number of transfer students recently,” Laurel asked him as she nibbled at her fries. Shino looked at her, or at least she thinks he looked at her, and answered her question.

            “My family is composed of bug enthusiasts and we study the various species and their effects on both people and the environment. We moved here to find different species of insects than we are used to where we used to live,” he stated. Laurel was interested. She thought it was going to be a boring reason, but this was actually really cool.

            “That’s really neat! What kinds of bugs do you normally study? I mean you don’t have to tell me if it’s a really private thing but it sounds cool,” Laurel said, taking a sip from their juice. Shino, being a little easier to read over time, seemed pleased and started to talk animatedly about his family and his own work with insects. Laurel settled in and listened closely, asking questions every now and then when she didn’t manage to understand what he meant.

            The two talked and ate until it was time to go back to class. Before Laural got up to dump her tray, she tapped the table, getting Shino’s attention before speaking.

            “This might be a little forward and presumptuous of me, but would you like to sit with me again tomorrow? I didn’t get to hear about everything,” she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

            “That would be acceptable. Why? Because you are a good listener and you pay attention to what I say. I’ll be back tomorrow, goodbye Laurel.” Shino nodded at Laurel and left, entering the crowd leaving the lunchroom. Laurel smiled to herself and grabbed her stuff, not even caring that they were smiling like an idiot. She had made another friend.

☆ ☆ ☆

            The following day, Laurel went through the same steps as the day before and sat down with her food in front of her, and waited for Shino to, hopefully, show up. As if there was a schedule in place, Shino showed up in his strange, oddly silent manner and sat down in his seat in front of Laurel.

            “Hey, how are you doing? I’m pretty good right now, but I have a test that I need to study for tomorrow. It should be alright though,” Laurel said and Shino nodded.

            “I’m doing fine as well. Why? Because my studies are progressing at a desirable level. You should have begun studying earlier when you learned of the test in the first place. Any bad grade is your own fault now,” Shino replied. Laurel, already used to people telling her different versions of that sentiment, just rolled her eyes and waved it off.

            “So, you were going to tell me more about your bugs?”

            “Of course,” Shino said and straightened his posture before he began where he left off from yesterday, Laurel eating as she listened.

☆ ☆ ☆

            The two kept meeting at lunch and talking about various topics like what Shino was doing or what new series Laurel had gotten into. They didn’t notice that over time they had become very knowledgeable about each other and were quite close, or at least Laurel didn’t notice. A couple weeks after the two had started to get to know each other, something happened.

            “Hey, how’re you doing today, darling? I was wondering if you would like to go to homecoming with me? You’re really pretty and I heard that you were top of the class. That’s impressive,” the guy said to Laurel who was waiting for Shino to come over. The guy, whose name escaped Laurel right now, was standing beside her and getting into her personal space in an attempt to seem suave. Laurel was just done with him and wanted him gone so she can eat lunch and talk to someone who’s actually pleasant to be around.

            “Nope, go to hell. You’re one of the guys who likes to ask people out for jokes because you and all your shitty friends get some kind of kick out of it. I’m not gonna say yes and look gullible for cheap laughs,” Laurel snapped at him, losing her patience. He tried to act like he was upset before giving it up and laughing.

            “It’s not our fault that you’re such an easy target. All you do is slink from class to class like you’re better than everyone else. Someone’s gotta knock down your ego every now and again before it gets too big. We’re doing the public a service, really,” he said, trying to sound reasonable but there was a mocking undertone to his words.

            Laurel stood up in anger, ready to actually fight him, when Shino walked up behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there. The guy blanched and mumbled something about continuing the conversation later before he booked it back to his friends across the cafeteria. Laurel shook Shino’s hand off and sat down, him following her lead. Laurel broke the silence.

            “I could’ve handled it myself,” she said, pissed off. She didn’t need someone in her life that thought that she was a delicate flower that needed saving. Shino just shook his head and laced his fingers together on the table.

            “I don’t doubt that. Why? Because your other friend, Alex Fierro, told me about your history of standing up for yourself when need be.”

            Laurel was surprised out of her anger. “How do you know Alex? I didn’t think that you had any classes with her?”

            “We have no classes together, yes, but when you mentioned her one day, I decided to talk to her as she is important to you. Alex told me of some things that you had talked about with her and how you handle your problems was one of them. Why did I talk to her? Because I like to know about my friends,” Shino said emphasizing the last sentence. Laurel smiled widely at him, anger and annoyance from the encounter fading rapidly.

            “You’re a sweet person, Shino. No wonder bugs like you! Anyways, why were you late? You’re so punctual most of the time,” she said, drumming her fingers on the table.

            “I stayed after in class for a few minutes as I had some questions about the material for the teacher,” he explained. Laurel nodded and the two began talking about anything that came to mind as usual. As lunch ended, the two parted ways at the end of lunch.


	3. sharing is caring (tadashi yamaguchi / kei tsukishima)

**Imagine your favorite character playing spin the bottle at a party, and when it’s their turn, the bottle points at you.**

* * *

 

           Laurel finished putting on the last of her makeup before looking at the time. Cursing loudly, she quickly put on her shoes and grabbed her bag before bolting out the door. She didn’t notice how much time had passed and now she was late to a party that her friend, Camryn, invited her to. The two have been friends for the last three years and they were as close as two people could be without being actually related or going through a tragedy together.

           As Laurel drove over to Camryn’s house, she jammed to her music and thought about who was going to actually be there. Camryn wasn’t the biggest of social butterflies but she knew a good amount of people, nonetheless. Laurel thinks that since the girl’s volleyball team recently won their practice match that it was going to be mainly the sports teams of the school. 

           Laurel quickly parked her car on the street when she arrived and looked around as she got out of the car. There seemed to be a good amount of people already there and hopefully no one would notice that she wasn’t her usual punctual self. Walking up to the door, she gave a polite wave and nod to the people who were on the porch. Just opening the door, she walked in. Laurel has known Camryn long enough to be able to walk into her house unprompted. She saw the hostess herself down the hall and when she spotted Laurel, she hurried over.

           “You’re late,” Camryn said, but since she was currently hugging Laurel, Laurel wasn’t worried about her actually being mad, “I’m glad to see that you arrived, though. There’s drinks and snacks in the kitchen and living room, people have been bringing their own to add on to the stocks, and I think there are also games being played in the living room, dining room, and maybe the back porches. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, but you should know for posterity’s sake,” Camryn said, waving her hands around. “I don’t think that there’s anything else pressing, but I think I saw some of the others around. Anna, Michelle, and Leah should be around here somewhere. I should go greet some of the others, be right back,” and with that, Camryn rushed off again. Laurel just shook her head and ventured into the house further.

           Laurel passed the living room and glanced into the living room, noting that there was currently a game of Cards against Humanity going on. With a rush of pride, she noticed that her friend Anna was currently winning, having the biggest stack of everyone. Continuing on, she went into the tightly packed kitchen and grabbed a soda and a handful of cookies. Hopping onto the counter to observe the people that were milling around, she saw a few of the girls volleyball team members being surrounded by some of their sycophants, praising them for their win. Laurel didn’t understand all of the hype that came with sports in all honesty, but it made others happy so who was she to judge.

           Well, she was gonna judge a little since some of the people around the girls were a bit loud. There was a shorter ginger boy who was bouncing all over the place and shouting about moves that the girls had done during their game. Laurel just shook her head and watched the three others that he was with try and quiet him down a bit. Her eyes caught on the two taller ones, a brunet one with longer hair and freckles and the other one a bitchy looking blond with glasses. Laurel gave the two of them another once over before she hopped off of the counter and left the kitchen to go and join her friends and give them game advice.

☆ ☆ ☆

           Eventually, after a few more games, including a few violent games of Spoons and some less overtly violent card games, everyone seemed to get bored and wanted to play something else. Laurel, from her position of leaning against Leah and Camryn, who had come into the room to hang out about an hour ago, didn’t particularly care about what was chosen except that if it was a board game then she was going to murder everyone else in it with little care. What? She’s a little competitive, sue her.

           “Let’s be a bit more… saucy,” Michelle said as she gave a little sarcastic shimmy, “Raise your hand if you wanna play Spin the Bottle like stereotypical teenagers at an unsupervised party!” At Michelle’s shout, almost everyone in the room raised their hands, more amused at the phrasing than anything else. Laurel saw the boys from earlier and smiled when she seemed to lock eyes with the blond one. Feeling a bit daring, she smirked a little and raised her hand. The boy blushed a little bit before glaring and raising his hand as well, the brunet boy raising his hand as well at the other’s nudging. They were startled out of their impromptu staring match when Michelle clapped her hands together.

           “Okay, whoever wants to join in, come on over and form a circle! Don’t sit too close together otherwise we won’t know who the bottle is pointing at. Who has a bottle? Oh, thank you,” she said as someone passed over an empty, glass Coke bottle. With that everyone seemed to migrate to the center of the room and form a circle. Leah, Alex and Michelle were in a line on one side of the group, Anna and Camryn electing to sit out of the game but were still close enough that they could see what was happening and talk to the others. The boys, Laurel noted with some amusement, were clustered on almost the exact opposite side of her and her friends. The ginger and one with black hair were arguing under their breath while the other two were whispering to each other, the brunet one seemingly trying to make fun of the other as he kept snickering while the blond snapped at him.

           “Rules are to spin the bottle and you have to kiss the person that it lands on. I don’t care if you’re best friends, exes, or have hated each other since the other one stole your pencil in the fifth grade. Also, because copping out is boring for everyone involved, I’m putting up a house rule that says that you  _ have _ to kiss them on the lips. No cheek, no hand, no forehead,” looking around to see if her message was received, Michelle nodded, “And now who is going to start us all of? How about you Laurel,” Michelle said, handing her the bottle.

           “I’m going to kill you in your sleep Michelle. I know your address,” Laurel said as she smiled a bit too sweetly. Laurel bent over to place the bottle in the middle of the group and gave it a quick spin. Sitting back on her heels, she was happy to see that it landed on Leah so it wouldn’t be too awkward. Turning to her and dramatically laying herself across Leah’s lap, she placed a hand on Leah’s cheek. “Kiss me, darling, before I die from not having you!” Leah laughed at her antics and the two gave each other a quick peck, the others in the group laughing and groaning at their debacle. Getting up from her position, Laurel let Leah spin and on and on the game went.

           Eventually, the bottle got back to Laurel again and she gave it another quick spin and to her surprise and amusement it seemed to stop and face directly between the brunet and blond that she had been checking out the entire time. “So do I spin again, choose one, what’s happening,” Laurel asked Michelle, but not taking her eyes away from the two. She felt more than saw Michelle’s answering shrug from how close they were sitting.

           “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened like this earlier. Just kiss both of them if it’s alright with everyone,” Michelle said. Laurel just shrugged before she got up from her sitting position and walking over to the two, dropping down in front of the brunet one. Laurel thought about just leaning in for a second before she moved and instead turned to straddle him, making him let out a squeak and blush. The room seemed to hush for a moment before catcalls rang out, but Laurel just ignored them.

           “Hello, my name is Laurel, and you,” she said, reaching up and idly fiddling with a strand of his hair. His blush seemed to deepen even more.

           “My name is Tadashi, and you really don’t have to do this,” he stammered out. 

           “It’s not a hardship, darlin’,” and with the last muttered comment, Laurel wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, Tadashi meeting her halfway.

           Now, she isn’t a romantic in any way, but Laurel could have sworn that she felt a shock go down her spine. She put the thought away before going back to Tadashi. He wasn’t that bad to kiss actually. He wasn’t aggressive and trying to shove a tongue down her throat, but actually pretty sweet and his lips were oddly soft. Before she could think about it anymore, she felt a pair of hands grab her around the waist and pull her into a lap. Looking up, she saw that it was the blond who was looking at his friend just a bit annoyed.

           “The game didn’t stop for you two,” he said rolling his eyes, “My name is Kei, can we get this over with?”

           “I’m charmed,” she said dryly before grabbing the back of his head and pulling it down to meet her in a kiss. It wasn’t as sweet as Tadashi’s, rather Kei kissed intensely and Laurel would have lost herself in it if he didn’t pull back quickly. Laurel shook her head for a second, and thinking for a second pulled out a piece of scratch paper she had in her pocket before ripping it in half and scrawling her number on both parts, handing them both to Tadashi and Kei, and getting up to return to her seat, followed by hooting and catcalls.

           The ball is in their court now.


End file.
